


They say that time is a healer

by KathysSong



Category: Black Hawk Down (2001)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathysSong/pseuds/KathysSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been ten years after the Battle of Mogadishu. A long time to come to terms with a lot of things - really?</p>
            </blockquote>





	They say that time is a healer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brenda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brenda/gifts).



> First of all thanks for giving me the chance to making a debut in Black Hawk Down. I tried to insert some non-fictional facts to this story and hope it works.  
> I'm not a native speaker so I apologize for every mistake I made. Sadly, my beta reader was too busy over the last days so I didn't have a chance to have it betaed by another one in time. Hope you'll forgive me :)
> 
> And now: enjoy this little story about Matt and Hoot - hopefully ;)

**They say that time is a healer**

It was cold. Very cold. The tall man with the brown hair was standing near a café, his hands hidden in the pockets of his black coat to keep them warm. His eyes whose color were the same as his hair were restlessly scanning the street, looking for that certain someone he was about to meet.

It had been a long time since Matt Eversmann last met Norm Gibson – or rather _Hoot_ as he was called. They both had fought in the Battle of Mogadishu; to Matt this battle was still vivid in his memories although ten years had passed since then. Ten years in which Matt did what he liked best. He was a soldier to the core but he always preferred to teach. His experiences in Somalia were the flash point for him to do so.   
Matt had lectured about this, not only to young, inexperienced soldiers but also to those who claimed to be smarter and higher-leveled than that young man – still in his twenties and now in his mid thirties - standing in front of the auditorium; and Matt was proud that he usually made every single person in an auditorium listening to him. It was commonly known that the Battle of Mogadishu was a prime example for how things could go terribly wrong and he was convinced that some of those high-ranging people listening to him were eager to find a weakness in his presentation. There had been weaknesses for sure. But Matt would never show weakness to someone he didn't know. He stuck to facts as he was trained to do so.

"Come on, Hoot, I'm freezing my ass here!", he murmured and wrapped his scarf tighter. Hoot's call had come in as a surprise. It was usually Matt who tried to stay in contact with him. But he couldn't even bear a grudge. Hoot was busy in his very own way. He just was not made to doing a nine to five job like many of Matt's friends were.

Their contact had been closer after the terrorist's attacks in New York City when it had become clear that Hoot would be going to Afghanistan.   
_A junkie is going back to war_. Matt still remembered the sound of Hoot's voice when he had told him about his deployment, that hint of subtle irony which was so characteristic of Hoot. An irony which was a disincentive to those who didn't know the real Hoot. The Hoot who had the blood of the first victims washed off the Humvees before they had returned to the city. The Hoot who kept Matt going when he thought he couldn't do anymore. The Hoot who taught Matt one essential thing – there usually was plenty of time to think about everything afterwards.

Matt hadn't understood this advice at first as he was a person who tended to think too much, to over-think every aspect. Only when he had returned from Somalia he had understood. During those many nights when sleep seemed to have become pure luxury…

"Now look who we got here. Waiting in the cold instead of entering the café and enjoying a coffee without an annoying Delta. Are you freezing, Sergeant?"

Matt swirled around. "You're an idiot, Hoot!"

Hoot smiled. "No big news, eh?" Like Matt he had his hands hidden in the pockets of his coat that was as black as his hair and eyes. He caught Matt's glance. "I know I'm late but I really thought you'd be waiting inside. Now let's go in, I need some coffee."

He didn't even wait for Matt to follow him and entered the café. Of course Matt followed him, with a deep sigh; Hoot was just not the guy to do apologies.

~*~

"You're kidding me. Blackburn is now the father of five kids? He's been quite busy. Not bad for a guy who once broke his back." Hoot finished his sandwich. It usually didn't take the two of them long to talk about their buddies. Although it was Matt who told Hoot the latest news as he was the one to whom it was important to stay in contact. Sometimes it seemed that Hoot didn't care but Matt was aware of the slight smile in Hoot's eyes when they were talking about their buddies. Hoot was a guy who _did_ care; but he rarely showed it.

Matt laughed at Hoot's comment. "My thoughts. He's quite happy now." His hands gently embraced his cup of coffee as he looked out of the window. People were passing by, everyone seemed to be in a hurry. It was so cold that you could even see every breath the people took. Matt easily remembered the heat in Somalia on those days. "We didn't even take water with us", he softly said to himself.

Hoot understood immediately. "As we believed we would return within an hour, Matt", he replied. "No one would have thought it would turn out that way. Why are you still living in the past?" He took a sip of his coffee and pensively looked at Matt.

The answer was a weak smile. "I'm having these nightmares again. Dunno why."

Hoot leaned over the table and caught Matt's eyes. "Do you want to know why? Why you keep having these nightmares that even your friends don't know about?"

Those eyes could be cruel. Matt tried to look away but something was holding him back. It was the look in his eyes he had never seen before. It was soft. Hoot and soft? Really? Matt took a closer look.

"Because you believe that you could have saved more. That you are responsible for every single buddy that died in the Mog. You know what, Matt? You are not responsible for one single death. No one is. That is how it goes in war. People die."

Matt shook his head. "Do you remember what you told me when you got back on that Monday?"

Hoot leaned back, obviously thinking. Of course he remembered but he would have never admitted that. "I don't", he lied.

"You told me that your friends asked you why you fought somebody else's war. And that know one would understand that it is all about the man next to you." Matt's hands had begun to drum against is cup of coffee.

A puzzled look met him as Hoot just raised an eyebrow and waited for Matt to continue with his thoughts.

"I believe I'm having these nightmares just because of this. It _is_ about the man next to you. And I failed. I failed!" His right hand heavily banged onto the table.

Hoot caught Matt's hand. "You didn't fail. You held your team together. You were the leader they needed out there. You can't take the responsibility for every buddy that died." He calmly pressed Matt's hand which was ice cold. Hoot knew that Matt now needed something to hold on to.

"I've seen men being torn into pieces! I had to tell parents that their son died. And that he fought a good fight. An honorable death! Right!" Matt had to restrain himself from yelling. Hoot already witnessed his weakness once. He was not to witness it again.

Hoot let go of Matt's hand and took another sip of his coffee. "Guess what? So do I. At yet I'm still here."

It was Hoot's calmness that brought him back to earth like it had brought him back in Somalia. Matt took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"Of course you did. We all need to do so. It's some kind of self protection to prevent us from going crazy." Hoot finished his coffee, grabbed his coat and stood up. "And you know what, Matt? It's just good the way it is." Dressed again in his black coat he was ready to leave.

"Hoot?" Matt knew that he had hurt him and didn't want him to leave but he knew that Hoot always did what he intended to do.

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"Do you sometimes get nightmares?", whispered Matt as if this was a dumb question.

Hoot smiled. "Of course I do. I'm a human being after all." He left the café.


End file.
